Edinburgh flight to Belfast among the UK’s most delayed flight routes

A new report has revealed flights to Belfast City Airport from Edinburgh are among the most delayed flight routes from the UK.

The Delay to Departure Report, created by business communication provider Esendex, used FlightRadar24 to analyse over 250 flight routes from the UK over the past year to establish the routes where passengers are most likely to be delayed, arrive on time, or even ahead of schedule as Brits prepare for peak summer holiday travel. 

Aer Lingus’ flight from Edinburgh to Belfast was found to be the fourth most delayed route with an average scheduled arrival time of 12:10 PM and an average actual arrival time of 12:37 PM, passengers faced an approximate delay of 27 minutes. 

Among the other most delayed routes, the easyJet flight from Belfast International to Glasgow saw an average 17 minute delay. 

Top 10 most delayed Belfast routes

Passengers flying from Leeds Bradford Airport to Lawica in Poland face the longest delays – with flights arriving 36 minutes later than expected. 

Those jetting off to the Middle East were second most affected by delays as the Birmingham International to Dubai route faced an average delay of 30 minutes. 

London Airports, Gatwick and Luton, were the only capital airports to feature in the top 20 most delayed routes with passengers travelling from London Gatwick to Milan Malpensa facing average delays of 20 minutes.

Top 10 Most Delayed Routes

On the other side of the report, London Heathrow to Delhi was named as the earliest arrival route, where passengers were touching down in India on average 35 minutes early. It’s joined at the top of the earliest arrival routes by Belfast City to Frankfurt, with passengers also benefiting from a 35-minute early arrival. 

Top 10 Early Arrival Routes

Chris Gorman, Head of Professional Services at Esendex commented on the report: 

“A delayed flight can cause a lot of anxiety, adding to an already stressful situation for many of us. Whether that’s impacting further travel plans once landed, or causing issues with accommodation, flight delays can cause havoc to travel itineraries. 

“It’s vital that airlines have the right digital infrastructure in place to ensure passengers are kept up to date, with the correct information and crucially, to allow passengers to stay in contact with airlines as a solution is being sought. 

“Ensuring processes like WhatsApp for Business, automated SMS solutions or SMS Landing pages are in place, will not only improve the customer service experience of the passengers but can also reduce the administrative challenges facing the airline too.”